As the calendar turns to another year, a Fulton County family still wrestles with the same confounding question:

Where is Derick Higgins?

Relatives hoped that the former high school track star might somehow return for Christmas. Then again, they'd harbored the same hope every day since March 21, when the 21-year-old was last seen at his Smithfield home.

The family sees two likely scenarios — one mystifying, one heartbreaking.

Perhaps, for reasons no one can fathom, Higgins decided to ditch his job and home and simply drive away. His car was discovered three days later in Florida, after a minor wreck. Police have found no other clue as to his whereabouts.

Or, perhaps the victim of foul play, he never left central Illinois. He knew some sketchy characters, and his family wonders if maybe Higgins was robbed and killed for a hefty wad of cash in his pocket.

After more than nine months, the unknown gnaws at Higgins' family.

"We still have no idea what happened," says his mother, Debbie Corsaw, 47, of Smithfield. "None of this makes any sense."

Since age 5, Higgins has had the same permanent address: 8440 E. Blyton Road in Smithfield. The village, pop. 214, sits about 15 miles southwest of Canton. Also sharing the home are his mother and stepfather, Mark Corsaw, plus a younger sister and brother. His father, Tim Higgins, 45, is remarried and lives in Rushville.

At Cuba High School, Derick Higgins enjoyed a standout athletic career, in football and track. He was a finalist for the Journal Star's track and field athlete of the year in 2009, when he was the Class 1A state champion in the 300-meter hurdles.

"This was a kid who was on top of the world," his mom says.

Higgins later attended Spoon River College and Lincoln College, running track at the latter. But he didn't stick to his classes and owwwpted instead to work.

His family says he hit a rough patch of minor trouble: a pair of underage-drinking citations. But Higgins later focused on working as steadily as possible, including a stint delivering pizza, then for his stepdad at Corsaw Hardwood Lumber. His family says Higgins was striving to save money to buy a house and a used truck. Meantime, he often helped out at home, looking over his younger siblings and driving them to activities.

By March of last year, Higgins had become something of a homebody, his family says. Trying to avoid trouble, he didn't go out much, preferring to play video games. He had put an offer on a house, but it got sold otherwise. So he continued to look for a place of his own to buy.

Around that time, Higgins told his mother he was feeling depressed. Some days, he seemed down, but often seemed his chipper self. His mother made him an appointment to see the family physician on March 18. After the appointment, Higgins told his mom that — perhaps out of embarrassment — he did not explain fully to the doctor the extent of his depressed feelings. Still, the doctor refilled Higgins' ADHD medicine and set another appointment for the next month.

"He went to bed earlier than usual and did not say good night," his mother says. "I went downstairs (to his bedroom) to tell him good night and that I love him. But the door was shut and the lights were off. I didn't want to wake him up, so I went back upstairs."

That is the last she saw of her son.

That night and the next morning — March 21 — his mother looked outside and saw his car: a worn 1998 Buick LeSabre. As she left for work, she figured a coworker had picked him up from work.

Later, after work, her husband said he'd spoken to Higgins that morning. Higgins was dressed for work at his stepdad's lumber yard, but said he'd be a little late. However, Higgins never showed, nor did three other employees.

Later, his mother checked Higgins' bank accounts online: he had withdrawn money from his savings and checking accounts that morning. Police would later find that he had stopped at Mid-America National Bank in Canton between 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. — the last time and place he was reported seen.

His mother believes he had about $5,900 in cash on him, but she was not alarmed by the sum. Higgins had been considering the purchase of a $6,000 pickup truck, and his family always had advised him to buy not on credit but with cash. So, they figured he'd withdrawn the money to make the purchase.

His mother also found, via Higgins' online account, that his debit card had been used to buy gas the morning of March 21 at a station in Creve Coeur. However, she says no pin input was needed on that purchase, so it remains uncertain if Higgins himself used the card there.

"We don't' know who used it," his mom says.

Higgins' mom contacted his father, in Rushville. Over the next two days, family and friends asked questions — in person and via Facebook — of anyone who might have a clue about Higgins. With no answers, his mother and stepdad went to Lewistown on March 24 to report Higgins missing with the Fulton County Sheriff's Office.

At first, she says, detectives expressed an inability to do much: a 21-year-old has the right to come and go as he pleases. But then she revealed his feelings of depression. Because of that factor, police could classify Higgins as a missing person, as "endangered" and a potential danger to himself. The sheriff's office alerted other agencies, along with the media, which published stories about the vanished Higgins — asking for the public's help for signs of him or his car.

But though he remained missing, his car surfaced.

That same night in Florida, deputies in Leon County found Higgins' tan LeSabre just outside Tallahassee. The car had been abandoned that same night after a minor accident: the vehicle had veered off a roadway and bashed over a road sign before coming to a stop. A passing police officer noticed the car and called for a tow. Deputies in Leon County discovered the car belong to a missing Illinois man, so they contacted their counterparts in Fulton County.

Page 3 of 4 - The discovery surprised the family: Higgins has no known connection with Florida. Further, a follow-up investigation by Leon County authorities found no sign of Higgins.

Police have said little about the car. But Higgins' family says his wallet — containing his driver's license, debit card and $380 — was found in his car, along with other personal belongings. A trail of clothes was found outside the car. All of those items, the family says, were boxed and sent to Fulton County detectives.

In April, a task force was formed with the Illinois State Police to focus on Higgins' disappearance. But by June — the month of Higgins' 22nd birthday — police remained stymied. So his father went to the Leon County Sheriff's Office to ask questions about the case — and perhaps retrieve the car.

Police there expressed no knowledge about Higgins' whereabouts, but said they'd have to retain the car while the Fulton County investigation progressed. So, Higgins' father returned home with no answers and no car.

However, in October, the car was demolished, unbeknownst to Higgins' family. Authorities in Leon County and Fulton County had no more use for it. By Florida law, the car went back into the possession of the towing company, which sold it for scrap. Higgins' dad says he expected a call about the car from police — from any agency involved in the case — but that never happened.

Meantime, no tips have trickled in lately to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, says Sgt. Dan Daly. The case remains status quo: Higgins is a missing person.

Meanwhile, Higgins' family wonders if someone found out about the hefty bank withdrawal — again, the family believes he was getting ready to buy a car — and decided to steal the cash. During the crime, perhaps Higgins met with foul play.

Police used cadaver dogs to search land in western Fulton County. But investigators have not revealed what prompted that search, which came up empty.

As for Higgins' depression, suicide seems unlikely, his mother says. Why drive all the way to Florida? And why withdraw so much money?

And if suicide were part of a working police theory, the family figures police would have looked through Higgins' bedroom for clues. That hasn't happened, which — regardless what police believe — flummoxes the family.

The best-case scenario has Higgins out there somewhere, Florida or otherwise. Noting his hard work to buy a house in Fulton County, his family can't see a reason why he'd leave. But maybe — though he'd never done anything like that before — he got a wild hair and blew out of town.

Page 4 of 4 - "That's where our hope is," his father says.

But where is he? Since March 21, Higgins' accounts have remained untouched, his family says. His mom says that once before, during a minor wreck, Higgins banged his head and lost his memory for a while. Maybe that happened again, in the Florida wreck.

"Did he hurt his head?" his mom says. "Does he know who he is?"

Maybe that sounds like the ending for a made-for-TV movie. Then again, in a case so void of answers, the family is considering any crazy possibility, any shred of hope.

"It's been a nightmare," his mom says.

Derick Higgins is 6 feet tall and weighs about 160 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored hoodie and blue jeans. Anyone with information about Higgins is urged to call the Fulton County Sheriff's Department at (309)547-2277.